Sprinklings of history, a smidgen of genealogy, a dash of art & a dusting of architecture, all mixed together with my eccentric fascinations

22 July 2015

The eagles have landed

In 1782 the American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) became the official bird emblem of the
United States because of its majestic beauty, great strength, long
life, and because it's native to North America. It appears on the Great Seal of
the United States, is stamped on the reverse of several American coins, and its
image can be found in a multitude of locations, situations and media throughout
the United States.

I’m a passionate birder so you can, no doubt, imagine my delight
that I got to see Bald Eagles on my very first day in the USA.

My friend Trudey had been following these eagles right from the
time the three eaglets were born, about a week apart, back in March, and had
shared some fantastic eaglet photos on Facebook so I was hoping I would be
lucky enough to see them when I arrived. The birds had fledged, in stages,
about two weeks prior to my arrival, so were no longer on the nest but were
still spending most of their time in the immediate vicinity of the nest, in a
park alongside the Fox River near Green Bay, Wisconsin.

We visited the park several times during the first few days of
my visit so I was fortunate to get photographs of the three fledglings in various
places and poses. I only saw one of the adult birds and that one only once, but
I did get a closer look at two adult Bald Eagles being cared for at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary near Green
Bay.

Bald Eagles are fascinating birds but rather than repeat all
their cool facts and figures here, I’ll let you read them for yourself on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

I feel very privileged to have spent several hours watching
these magnificent creatures and I hope you enjoy looking at these few of the hundreds
of photographs I took of them.

About Me

I am a writer and photographer; project
manager and English teacher; knitter and genealogist; fungi forayer and bird
watcher; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and child sponsor; tree
lover and cat person; researcher and blogger; nemophilist; and traveller.